Building tile



April 13, 1943. w; DEMAREST; 2,316,319

BUILDING TILE Filed Jan. 2s, 1941 y di INVENTOR.

Patented Apr. 13, 1943 A UNiTEo STATES OFFICE 2 Claims.

vThe object of the invention is to provide a tile which will provideample sustaining characteristics, be readily transportable, haveembodied therein a waterbreak to prevent moisture from working from theoutside of the wall construction in which the tiles form a part andprovide insulating air spaces and circulatory air passages to keep thetile dry to the largest extent of surface area as possible.

The invention consists of a building tile having a load bearing portion,the upper and lower surfaces of which are adapted for mortar for joiningsuperposed tiles, with projections on each of said surfaces for themortar, the projections serving to guide moisture inward of the loadbearing portion, upwardly inclined walls extending inwardly in respectto the inner surface of said load bearing portion forming moisture iiowimpeding members and forming air conducting channels, said inclinedwalls adapted to guide moisture downwardly and be air dried at theirupper ends, said parts being disposed symmetrical in reverse with likeparts, whereby the central part of the tile is air dried by said aircurrents and the moisture or water seepng into the tile is discharged inproximity to the centrally disposed air dried parts, the moisture flowbeing 01T center at the tile.

The invention consists of having two symmetrically disposed spaced loadbearing members, inward extensions for the upper surface of saidmembers, upwardly inclined walls extending inwardly from each loadbearing member terminating in an apex at the center line of the tile, acenter wall depending from said apex, and opposed horizontal andinclined walls at the lower surface of the tile, horizontal channelsformed by the last-named walls, the aforesaid extensions 'havingdownwardly extending enlarged portions immediately above the inclinedwalls forming the apex to cause the water to drop in proximity tothe`apex.

With the Vabove and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the novel featureshereinafter' more fully described and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing: Figure l is a perspective view of a wallconstruction utilizing my improved tile;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on line 2-2 of Figure l,the upper tile being shown in end View;

Figure 3 is a sectional view of a part of thel 55 tion 26a, and with thebeada, but in mirrorv tile showing a modified form of shape of thecombined hand grip and drip end,

Figure 4 is a plan view of the tiles, and

Figure 5V isa perspective View of the mortar layer applied to parts ofthe ends of the tiles.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe various Views.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to Figures 1 and 5, thetiles I8, Il and l2 form the lower series,'and tiles I3 and I4 form theupper series, all arranged end to end, in the usual manner. These tileshave layers of mortar, between part of their ends, as shown in Figure 5,and between part of the lower surfaces of the upper tile and the uppersurface of the lower tile also well known. Y

Each tile has a length of about 12 to 16 inches, a height of about 5 to8 inches, and a width of about 6 to 12 inches. These dimensions aregiven merely to show the relative proportions of a tile of this kind.

Each tile has longitudinally thereof, four enclosed channels 9, whichare closed at their ends by the vertical mortar layers between the endsof the tiles, the shape of these channels being suitable for the'extrusion of the material when manufacturing the tile. The number andshape may be changed. These channels are bounded by Vertical parallelweight'stress absorbing members, l5, 15a, 2i) and 20a, and horizontaltie or bonding portions l'l, lla, I9, 19a, I8 and Ia, the generalstructure of these weight stress absorbing members being shown. Thehorizontal mortar layer 2l absorbs such weight stresses to the extent ofits width, in correspondence with the width of the rectangularstructurel1, l5, I8, 20, just described, and of course, likewise in respect tothe'layer 27a as to the rectangular structure lla, I5a' laajand 20a.This line of demarcation is generally indicated by the dotdash line 5Uin Figure 2.

It-is between these two marginal known stress structures that there isarranged a construction different from those heretofore proposed andusedthe top tie member l1 is extended inwardly toward the opposed tiemember l'la, with a projection of substantially the same depth as thetie member, forming a lower wall 31, and at the tip 'end thereof, havinga rounded portion, semicircular in shape if desired. This roundedportion 26, is formed with a bead 25, for the purpose of causingmoisture to accumulate in drops and drip on by gravity. The opposed dripextension is constructed With the rounded porreverse. Spaced from thesebeads 25 and 25a, there is arranged an inverted V-shaped wall, with theapex 23a uppermost and in the Vertical center line of the tile, with theupper surfaces of the walls 22 and 22a, descending, and joined to theuprights and 20a, the angular relationship forming gutters 22h and 22C.

Vertically disposed is a wall 24, which at its upper end is joined tothe gutter forming walls 22, 22a, and at its lower end is joined to theinclined walls 2| and 2|a, which are generally parallel with the walls22 and 22a and form an inverted V, with its apex at 23, in the centerline of the tile, and above the plane of the lower surfaces |81) and |80of the tile. While for the practical working out of the invention theselegs 2| and 2|a could form acute angles with the uprights 20 and 20a,like the legs 22 and 22a, it is preferred to shorten the legs 2| and2|a, and join them to horizontal projections of the base members I8 andla, these short horizontal members being referred to in the drawings by|8b and |8c. The inverted V with its apex 23 is substantially parallelwith and a counterpart of the inverted V with its apex 23a. The upwardsinclination of the walls forming said apices 23 and 23a work to preventmoisture or water from reaching the apices. The left hand side of thetiles shown in Figure 2 is the exterior or weatherside of the wallconstruction, and the right hand side is the interior or indoor side.Thus, moisture creeping inwardly from the exterior is desired to bemaintained to the left of the vertical center line passing through theapices 23 and 23a. Any moisture creeping through the mortar layer 21 iscollected at the bead 25, and drops into the gutter 22h therebelow.

As tiles of this kind are not absolutely horizontally level, this waterin the gutter 22a, runs out of the gutter 22h, at its end, and flowsacross the end of the wall 22 and across the end of the wall |8b to thetop surface of the tile below, is again beaded, and repeats its actionacross each tile. This is shown by the line of arrows 3), shown inFigure l. The upward inclination of the walls 22 and 2| prevent themoisture from bridging the apices 23 and 23a. The upper surfaces 32 and32a, and the lower surfaces 38 and 33 are each inclined upwardly andretard any water flow.

The extension |81) with its upper horizontal surface 4E) as its lowerhorizontal surface 4|, is about to the extent necessary to enablecontact to be had with the mortar layer 21, by the juxtapositionalsurfaces of the tiles, the extended portion of the mortar layer beingdue to the pressure of the weight of the superposed tile or tiles and toa squeezing action of the operator.

In Figure 3, the bead is formed into a beak 25h, to enable theaccumulated water to drop oi quicker.

The channels 9a and 9b are open at each end, and in consequence air cancirculate therethrough, which air serves to dry the interior surface byevaporation action, and consequently the walls 22 and 2|, and tend tominimize the water quantity flowing as indicated by the arrows. Anotherchannel is formed by the lower surface of the inverted V having the apex23, with the upper surfaces of the inverted V having the apex 23a, beingbounded laterally by the ends of the mortar layers 21 and 21a, by theextensions 26 and 26a, and by the inner surfaces of part of the uprights20 and 20a. This space is generally indicated by 35, and as stated is achannel longitudinally disposed from end to end of two or moresuperimposed tiles, of the configuration described. The ends of thesechannels are open since the upright mortar layers 21. block off thelateral downward stress bearing parts of tiles, but do not block off theends of the channels 35. The channels 9a and 9b are also open, that is,not covered by the mortar at their ends. In consequence, verticalcurrents form, since the warmer air always ascends, and these draw alongby induction the air from the horizontal channels Sa, 9b and 35, andsubject the entire wall structure to the evaporation of moisture,maintaining the inner halves of the tiledry. The air flow is alongcentrally disposed air gutters at 23, 38a and 38h, thus Warming thejunction terminating in the upright 24 and also the junction terminatingin the apex 23a. Such warmer junctions work to increase the evaporationcapacity.

The beaded or heated ends of the projections 2t and 26a form hand holdsfor the convenient transporting of the tiles. The projections 26 and 26aact as shields to prevent the blocking of the gutters 22h and 22o, bythe dropping of an excess of mortar from the joints 21 and 21a into saidgutters.

In Figure 4, the mortar layers between two ends of tiles are shown, withthe open space therebetween, and in Figure 5 the mortar bed, composed oftwo horizontal joints connected with a vertical joint is shown separatedfrom the tiles.

The improved tiles are horizontally symmetrical and may be readilymanufactured and placed in position.

From the foregoing it is believed that the construction and advantagesof the invention may be readily understood by those skilled in the artwithout further description, it being borne in mind that numerouschanges may be made in the details disclosed without departing from thespirit of the invention as set out in the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a building tile having two spaced parallel load bearing portionsof rectangular transverse cross section, joined by spaced, parallelupper and lower walls each of which is inclined downwardly and outwardlyfrom the median line of the tile to connect with the opposed inner facesof said bearing portions, a centrally located, longitudinal wall joiningsaid parallel walls, the combination of shelf-like inward extensionwalls supported by said bearing portions each having its upper surfacein alignment with the upper surface of its adjacent bearing portion, theedges of said extensions being spaced from each other, and a downwardlydirected enlargement on each of said extension walls overhanging theupper surface of said upper parallel walls at opposite sides of the saidmedian line, whereby moisture seeping inwardly over said upper surfacesof a bearing portion and its inward extension wall is adapted to beguided directly from said enlargement to said upper parallel inclinedwall immediately beneath said enlargement and guided by said wall in adirection away from said median line.

2. In a building tile having two spaced parallel load bearing portionsof rectangular transverse cross section, joined by spaced, parallelupper and lower walls each of which is inclined downwardly and outwardlyfrom the median line of the tile to connect with the opposed inner facesof said bearing portions, a centrally located, longitudinal wall joiningsaid parallel Walls, the combination of said upper parallel walls atopposite sides of the said median line, and the lower surfaces of saidbearing surfaces extending inwardly to form the connection with thelower surfaces of the lower inclined parallel walls, the connectionsbeing substantialIy below the enlargements.

WILLIAM G. DEMAREST.

